Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line

Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)

On Unity of Marxist-Leninists

A Friendly Gesture – A Revolutionary Contribution

Statement of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) issued on October 10, 1972.

The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) issued a statement on October 10, 1972, entitled: A Friendly Gesture – A Revolutionary Contribution. The full text of the Statement follows: The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) has received an extremely warm, friendly and sincere letter from the Central Committee of the Partisan Organisation. This dispatch of a letter (the full text of the letter follows this statement) and its public release is a friendly gesture towards our Party and a revolutionary contribution to the mass democratic anti-imperialist revolution. The spirit of solidarity and friendship with which this letter is written is a matter of great joy to all progressive and democratic people in Canada and Quebec. It is a historic departure from reactionary sectarianism and the splitting up methods of the monopoly capitalist class.

Our Party has always stood for warm and friendly relations between genuinely progressive and democratic organisations. We have always strived to Unite On the Basis of Principle and we have consistently pursued the correct line of opposing those who use differences to split, divide and dismember the revolutionary organisations and the mass movement. The warm response of the Partisan Organisation to our approaches is a great contribution towards smashing up the fetters imposed on the revolutionary mass movement by the reactionary sectarians, dogmatists and opportunists.

The revisionists led by the so-called “Communist” Party of Canada and the trotskyists of various shades have always attempted to disunite the ranks of the people. They are encouraged and actually financed to do so by the monopoly capitalist class. They use the method of spreading gossips, creating slanders and concocting lies to achieve their goals. They are like the fascists who, instead of clarifying any issue, mystify and confuse all the issues. Their objective is to liquidate the revolutionary mass movement. Our Party used and developed the method of mass democracy to oppose and overthrow the revisionists and the trotskyists and unite the genuine Marxist-Leninists by creating revolutionary public opinion amongst the masses, clarifying issues and by enhancing the political level of the broad masses. Mass democracy is an indispensable method of achieving clarity of views and increasing the level of the masses. Revisionists and trotskyists hate it and run away from it.

As long as human society remains, differences of opinion will always exist. Among the Marxist-Leninists, the differences of opinion find concentrated expression and come up in various inner-Party struggles on the day-to-day and on the long-range basis. What attitude one takes towards the differences depends on whether an individual is a Marxist-Leninist or a revisionist. The revisionists use differences to split the ranks of the Marxist-Leninists and then use dictatorship over them to have “inner-Party peace”. Their attitude towards the problems of the Marxist-Leninists is one of opposing the genuine Marxist-Leninists and supporting the sham ones. They are extremely afraid of class struggle. Our Party holds that the fact that differences in points of view exist among the Marxist-Leninists is a sign of health and not of stagnation. These differences should be sorted out on the basis of mass democracy where comrades and friends sit together, uphold principle, oppose revisionism, dogmatism and opportunism and unite to execute the revolutionary political line. We advocate constant exchange of opinions between the higher bodies and the lower bodies of the Party, between the Party and other progressive organisations and between the Party and the masses. Our attitude towards differences is one of strong support for the Marxist-Leninist political line and resolute opposition to the revisionist and opportunist political line. We differ for the purposes of building unity and oppose the forces causing disunity by mobilising the masses against them.

For a number of years, the revisionist party and various opportunist elements have systematically and consistently created lies and slanders about our Party and the leadership. Without basing any of their concoctions on facts, they have shamelessly called us “CIA agents”, “adventurists” and “sectarians”. History is a clear witness that it is these elements who are the real CIA agents, adventurists and sectarians. We have been able to draw a clear line between us and them by upholding the method of mass democracy and we have persisted in mobilising the masses against these revisionists, dogmatists and the opportunist elements. Our Gods are the masses of the people and the opportunists are extremely afraid of the people. They use the bourgeois state machine, capitalist news media and their propagandists to attack us and popularise themselves. This is a very good thing as the people can clearly see where they stand. The negative example is a great teacher of the masses.

The Partisan Organisation, by learning through their own experience and paying attention to the historical experience of the international proletariat have come forward to smash up reactionary sectarianism and assist in the emancipation of the revolutionary mass movement from revisionism, dogmatism and opportunism. We highly value this attitude of theirs. They have decided to keep the differences between organisations as a matter of internal discussion and utilise the basic points of agreement to express concrete solidarity and support for one another and advance the great cause of overthrowing the monopoly capitalist class and their foreign masters. They have taken up the principles of mass democracy as the method of sorting out contradictions among the people and have openly adopted this method as their own. We consider this attitude of theirs as extremely correct and we call upon other organisations to follow the glorious example of the Partisan Organisation and do the same.

The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) hereby publicly declares that we will give full support to the Partisan Organisation to execute those policies on which we have basic agreement and that we will keep our differences for internal discussion. CPC(ML) will assist their election campaign in Vancouver East and will popularise their documents as much as possible. We are heartened that the Partisan Organisation has given their support in our election campaign and we will do everything to reciprocate this friendly act.

The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) takes this opportunity once again to call upon all the democratic, progressive and proletarian organisations and groups to overcome reactionary sectarianism, dogmatism and opportunism, Unite On the Basis of Political Line and bring in a period of friendly cooperation and solidarity between organisations which is so much desired by the masses. Let us all defeat the flimsy attempts of the monopoly capitalist class to divide us. Let us unite on the basis of our own experience, our own revolutionary contribution and our own organisations. Let no organisation or groups or individual claim greater contribution and fame than anyone else. We are all communists and the practice of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought in our own concrete conditions is our contribution and is our fame. There is no other merit and no other fame. There is no competition or scramble for positions amongst us. Let us build a genuine Marxist-Leninist spirit of collective leadership in the revolutionary mass movement and use the method of mass democracy to handle contradictions amongst the people! LONG LIVE THE FRATERNAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA (MARXIST-LENINIST) AND THE PARTISAN ORGANISATION!

LONG LIVE THE SPIRIT OF FRIENDSHIP OF THE PARTISAN ORGANISATION TOWARDS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA (MARXIST-LENINIST)!

THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA (MARXIST-LENINIST) WILL ALWAYS STRIVE TO UNITE THE PEOPLE AND OPPOSE THE ENEMY!

DOWN WITH THE REACTIONARY SECTARIANISM, DOGMATISM AND OPPORTUNISM PRACTICED BY THE REVISIONISTS AND THE OPPORTUNISTS!

LET US BUILD A GENUINE MARXIST-LENINIST SPIRIT OF COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN THE REVOLUTIONARY MASS MOVEMENT!

LET US USE THE METHOD OF MASS DEMOCRACY TO HANDLE CONTRADICTIONS AMONGST THE PEOPLE!

(This article first appeared in News Realease No. 7 issued by the National Election Committee of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), October 10, 1972